I’d wanted to gather all her curls up in my fist and kiss the back of her neck when I’d done it.
“When I was coming back,” she said finally, “I knew I wanted to help you fight. I wanted to help your Court take it all back. And I had to tell you something.”
“What did you want to say?” I urged, my voice a low whisper.
She came closer to me, her legs touching mine, until she was so close I felt consumed by her.
Her hand reached up, tracing my jaw, and then my lips. I closed my eyes.
“I wanted to tell you that I couldn’t leave. That I want to rescue my family and help my people, but now I just as badly want to help yours as well. Because it feels like part of my heart is housed here, in this place where there isn’t ownership anymore, where no one has land or homes or permanence. And maybe that’s why we belong to each other now. When they’ve taken our home, we still have it within each other.”
I released a breath, my eyes fluttering open and meeting her languid brown ones. She pressed a hand to my heart, and it pounded against her palm.
Part of my heart is housed here.
My own hand covered hers and we stood there for a moment, watching each other, the energy between us irrevocably changed, a sapling sprouting from the soil with roots so deep it couldn’t be dug up.
She’d come back.
And though it had cost her too damn much, she’d come back for me.
No one had ever done that before.
“You should have left,” I whispered, the air heavy. “You should have escaped.” She closed her eyes. “But if you hadn’t come back, I would’ve lost you. And I can’t begin to regret that.”
And then I repeated the gesture I’d dreamed about since I first did it.
My hands came up almost involuntarily and removed her delicate spectacles, placing them on the edge of the desk. I brought her close, inhaling her scent—parchment and ink and lemons filling my senses.
“I’m going to kiss you now,” I said, my mouth inches from her lips.
“Yes,” she breathed, the sound passing from her to me.
And then I did. I pressed my mouth to hers, hot and hungry, and she opened, groaning in the back of her throat as I tilted her head back.
I pulled her toward me, sitting back against the desk as she climbed up, settling in my lap. I tasted her, felt her soft curves in my hands, the press of her lips on my neck as my complete focus became her.
I could barely believe we’d only done this once before, because kissing her felt so familiar, so right, it was like coming home.
When they’ve taken our home, we still have it within each other.
Her words echoed around me, filling my head, infiltrating my heart.
I stood from the desk with her around me, walking toward the bed and laying her down gently.
“I’m in love with you,” I said; the words were simple compared to all that was in my heart. But everything distilled down to them. “I don’t think I deserve you. I didn’t even think I was capable of love anymore, until you. The things I’ve done... But I love you. And with me, you’ll never have to doubt where your home is again. Because it’s always here.”
You’re my home.
She wrapped her hands around my head, pulling me back with her, toward the bed.
“This time don’t fall asleep,” she whispered.
I laughed despite myself, despite my hands shaking as I pulled off her soft trousers, as she unbuttoned her jeweled chemise. She reached up and unlaced my shirt, then lifted it over my head, running her hands down my chest. I pulled my own trousers down and then joined her.
“I’ve wanted this for so long.” I breathed the words against her shoulder, the skin scattered with dark freckles like stardust. My fingertips traced them.
“Not nearly as long as I have.” She gave a sly smile.
